Publicity Hound Ek Dari writes: “I’ve been reading your tips for quite some time now, and love the articles and ezine. “One question I had was about thanking an editor or journalist. What is the standard on that? I have had successful placements in the New York Times, Washington Post, Fortune, and top-tier magazines, but am not sure how… Read More
Food editors love stories about your harvest
Our huge garden is producing green beans faster than we can pick them. Two weekends ago, a friend and I canned 56 jars of cherry jam. Next on my to-do list are canning beets and dill pickles, followed by homemade applesauce in September. I’ll also set aside a Saturday sometime next month for the annual pesto-making extravaganza… Read More
How to promote a podcast for women
Kit Behling of Milwaukee, Wisconsin writes: The writers of “Single Married Widowed Divorced” need your help. We are a group of technologically challenged, over-35 women who have jumped on the podcasting bandwagon—uh, make that bandwidth. We have a website and a play and a weekly podcast in which we examine real women’s relationship stories. “Each week… Read More
Create your own holiday or piggyback off somebody else’s with these resources
Thanks to self-publishing guru Dan Poynter’s excellent Your Publishing Poynters ezine for this tip. Marika Flatt of PR by the Book, says your pitch will always be more interesting to the media if it’s tied to a timely date, such as a health awareness month (October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month) or a holiday (Memorial… Read More
Press releases or news releases? Which is it?
After I announced my free 89-day tutorial this week called “89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases,” Publicity Hound Jim Nugent emailed me with this question: “In keeping with what you say about press releases, shouldn’t this series be renamed either ’89 Ways To Write Better News Releases?’ or maybe ‘Media Releases’ or perhaps, ‘Universal Information Pitches?’ After… Read More
Write articles in pairs to attract more readers
Chris Knight of EzineArticles.com, the granddaddy of article directories, says article authors should write articles in pairs to pull more readers. “Immediately below each article is a list of recently submitted articles in the same category,” he says. “If the reader of your current article didn’t find what they were looking for and they didn’t click on your… Read More
Publicity stunts to try when the idea well is dry
Author Marcia Yudkin is one of the most creative people I know. Her book “6 Steps to Free Publicity” is perhaps my very favorite book on how to work with the media. I’m one of her groupies, and I read her ezine “Marketing Minute” each week. So I was thrilled when she gave me permission… Read More
Bad customer service? Shame companies online
If you want the real scoop on what people think of your customer service, don’t bother asking the folks in your customer service department. For a much more accurate look, do an online search for your company. You might be shocked at what you find. A recent story in the Washington Post said disgruntled customers… Read More
Press releases just got easier thanks to this free tutorial
Writing press releases isn’t easy. If you think I’m wrong, take this little quiz. Answer true or false to the following statements: I write press releases primarily to encourage journalists at newspapers and magazines to write articles about my company, or for broadcasters who will feature us on the news or invite us as guests on talk shows.… Read More
I Keep Safe Coalition needs publicity tips
Carolyn Cox of Virginia Beach, Virginia asks: “Optimist International, one of the Big 4 of community services groups, focuses their volunteer efforts on ‘Bringing Out the Best in Kids. Right Here. Right Now.’ “We recently joined the I Keep Safe Coalition in order to help keep kids safe on the Internet. Our first effort is… Read More